PHYSICAL STRUCTURE. 105 



and must be passed over in following the tract for the ascent of the latter. 

 From this spur a very magnificent view of the south-east side of Mount 

 Grower is obtained, and, on a clear day, Ball's Pyramid, away in the ocean. 

 "We were fortunate enough to traverse this part of the island on such, and 

 were well rewarded for our exertions in climbing to this height. 



The second spur stretches to the south-west, and almost overhangs the sea 

 in a series of wall-like terraces. Below the lowest wall is a much shorther, 

 but very dangerous track to Mount Grower, which rises from the beach a 

 little beyond the shore end of the Coral Reef, and, after passing under the 

 spur, skirts the north side of Erskine Valley. This track, called the Lower 

 Road, was partially traversed by Mr. Thorpe and the writer, under the 

 guidance of Mr. W. Nichols, and afforded a good opportunity of examining 

 the horizontal basaltic rocks of which the wall is formed. Here again I 

 cannot do better than quote the description by Mr. Fitzgerald, who explored 

 the whole of this path: — "The summit of the precipice, one of the flanks 



of Mount Ledgbird, facing the sea was at length 



reached .... Then began a very rapid descent over loose rocks and 

 crumbling basalt, and the guides spoke of a ' bad bit ' . . . . Down 

 and down, till a thousand feet from the ridge was reached; when, on turning 

 a rock, they got the first glimpse of the ' bad bit,' and a ' bad bit ' it was — a 

 track across the face of the precipice . . . The precipice rose on the 

 right hand sheer and naked, perpendicular as a wall for a thousand feet ; 

 then a little rubbish, with here and there a stunted plant. Then the 

 track, not more than two feet wide, and then down 500 feet to the 

 palms. . . . What a treasure those little bushes are ; but there are 

 places where there are none, where there is nothing to grasp but the rough- 

 ness of the perpendicular rock ; and there are places — ' gulches ' — where 

 the path itself is gone, and foot holds have been cut with a pick in the rock 

 or gravel. ... In all that dangerous track the rounding of the angles 

 is the worst, when you cannot see where you are going, and grasp at anything 

 with one hand, reluctant to let go the other, and the other is sidled on over 

 nothing. But the last angle is turned, and they stand again upon the talus 

 of the precipice, and it is grand — oh, wonderfully grand to look upon it — 

 1,000 feet of grey perpendicular basalt, the very highest mass of which 

 overhangs the base."* 



The apex of Mount Ledgbird is formed by what Mr. E. S. Hill terms, " a 

 dome-like eminence, rising out of, but at no great height from its centre, 

 and having precipices of from 100 to 200 feet sheer down from its base." 

 There are, in fact, three apices to this hill, and according to the published 

 charts the centre is the most elevated. 



Mounts Ledgbird and Grower are separated by Erskine Valley, or the 

 " Between Hills," a deep and wide depression, running down to the south- 

 west coast. Its descent is very rapid and steep, with more or less permanent 

 water, the sides of the valley being everywhere covered with boulders and 

 volcanic debris, interspersed amongst the densest possible vegetation. The 

 saddle at the head of this declivity, forming the connecting neck between 

 the two hills, is very narrow, probably not more than twenty to thirty yards, 

 covered with large boulders, and supporting a low, stunted vegetation, and 

 much under-growth, bearing testimony in the twisted and gnarled condition 

 of the trees to the heavy squalls and gales which pass across it, and of which 

 we had a vivid personal experience during the night we were camped in this 

 otherwise charming spot. Erskine Valley acts, in fact, as a kind of funnel, 



* Hill's Lord Howe Island, loc. cit., p. 43. 



